


Operation: Asgard

by TheBatchild



Series: Undisclosed [15]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M, Gen, Stinn - Freeform, Thor: The Dark World
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-11
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:47:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25211125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheBatchild/pseuds/TheBatchild
Summary: The last couple months have been incredibly busy and stressful for Agent Quinn Scott, but when Dr. Erik Selvig takes a naked run around Stonehenge, things kick into high gear. After Thor visits Quinn unexpectedly at Avengers Tower, she gets sucked into an ancient plot that she is absolutely in no way prepared for.
Relationships: Jane Foster/Thor, Steve Rogers/Original Female Character(s), Steve Rogers/Quinn Scott
Series: Undisclosed [15]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/209024
Comments: 3
Kudos: 9





	1. Chapter 1

_November 12th, 2013  
_ _New York City, New York—Avengers Tower, 70th floor_

"You are absolutely, one hundred percent positive, that Dr. Erik Selvig was back to baseline before you signed the papers that influenced my decision to release him from SHIELD protection?"

" _I am, Agent Scott. When he left here, it was almost as if he had never been under Loki's influence at all."_

Quinn narrowed her eyes at the television, which was paused on a news story about one Dr. Erik Selvig, renowned astrophysicist who'd been involved in the Battle of New York and victim of Loki's brainwashing sceptre, streaking around Stonehenge, brandishing a strange metal device of some kind while not wearing a stitch. Completely and utterly _naked_. "So explain to me what I'm looking at." Quinn wasn't pleased she couldn't keep the anger, frustration, and sarcasm out of her voice, but the last few days had been busier than usual and she was exhausted.

She heard the doctor sigh and rustle that might have been him running a hand over his face. _"I don't know, Agent Scott. It's not like we've dealt with a lot of brainwashing or mind control before. I suspect some sort of relapse?"_

It was Quinn's turn to sigh. Dr. Andrews was one of the best doctors SHIELD employed, and he was right. SHIELD had dealt and still dealt with a lot of weird shit, but alien mind control technology was still new and mostly unknown. The fact that Selvig had returned to mostly normal at all was a damn miracle.

" _If I might ask—do you have anyone looking into the possibility that the weird occurrences we've been having lately might have something to do with this relapse? And how is Agent Barton faring?"_

"Considering news of Selvig's al fresco run only reached us a little while ago, the only person who's considered that possibility is me. I would say it's fairly likely the two are connected, but that's just based on experience and not on any actual evidence."

" _And Agent Barton?"_

"The last time I spoke to him, he was fine. I'll call him once we hang up."

" _Call me back if he is experiencing any… unusual behaviours."_

Quinn wanted to say that running around naked might not be out of the ordinary for Clint, who had shared quite a few stories of the shenanigans he'd gotten up to when he was younger, but instead she just said, "I will," and unceremoniously hung up. She stared at the television for another moment before picking up her cell phone and speed-dialling Clint's personal number.

" _I'm fine,"_ Clint said before Quinn could even open her mouth.

"I'm guessing you saw the news then?"

" _Yeah. Is Selvig all right?"_

"I don't know yet. He withdrew from SHIELD protection a few days ago, so now I'm playing catch-up, trying to figure out where he went, what happened, where he is now…" Quinn sighed. "Dr. Andrews and I think it might have something to do with the weird occurrences that have been happening around the world and in the UK specifically, but I figured I'd better check in, since—"

" _Since I was also one of Loki's pawns. Appreciate it, Scottie, but I'm doing fine. I think Nat hit me hard enough to knock that bastard out completely."_

Quinn snorted a laugh, but she didn't feel any better about the situation. "Good to hear it."

" _Scottie,"_ Clint said after a second, his voice shifting from his usual levity to a more serious tone. Quinn never liked it when his voice sounded like that." _Do I… Do we need to be worried?"_

The _we_ referred to Clint, his wife, Laura, and their two kids, Cooper and Lila. Quinn hoped none of them knew the details of what had happened to Clint last year; he'd done a remarkably good job at keeping his family life separate from SHIELD and the Avengers. She was sure he'd told at least Laura the basics, but she really did hope that was all. She knew how hard it had been for Nat to see Clint under Loki's control, but she couldn't even imagine what it would be like for Laura.

"I don't think so. If anything was going to happen, I would have expected at least some sign of it around the same time as Selvig. Of course, I have no real idea what we're dealing with, so take my assessment with a grain of salt."

" _Always do."_

"Hey." Quinn tried to sound indignant—how she would normally respond to his teasing—but her voice came out flatter than intended. She sighed and pressed the thumb of her free hand to the pressure point under her eyebrow where a headache was starting to form.

" _You okay?"_

"It's just… been busy the last few days. I'm tired."

" _When was the last time you left the office for more than a few hours? I know you're only five floors away from your apartment, but that's no excuse to work yourself to the bone."_

Quinn wasn't about to get into that argument with Clint. SHIELD wasn't going to hire anyone else to help with managing the safety of those connected to the Avengers, and while she hated the PR stuff, she finally had the SHIELD and Stark Industries teams working mostly independently. But there was still a lot she had to personally oversee and deal with. No one else had the security clearance to read through threat reports and decide if they were worth bringing to the attention of the Avengers—or, more accurately, to Tony, who would then call in the rest of the team. But she was seeing less of Tony too; he kept locking himself in his lab, working on ways to protect Earth from further alien threats, should they ever arise. Quinn was a little worried about him, but she had enough on her plate.

"I'll be fine."

" _I don't doubt that, but you're still only one person. Take a break for a couple hours. Grab a nap, some food, some water. Then get back at it."_

Quinn huffed. She knew Clint was right.

" _Scottie."_

"Fine, fine! I'm taking a break. You let me know if you start to feel weird or anything, okay?"

" _Promise. See ya, Scottie."_

"Bye."

Quinn hung up and then sent a quick email to Dr. Andrews to inform him that Clint was fine and hadn't experienced any weird urges or lapses lately. Then, she just sat there and stared at the paused image on the television as she wondered if she'd ever hear the end of Loki and the mess he'd caused over a year ago.

After a few long minutes of doing nothing, Quinn got to her feet and walked to the break room down the hall from her office. It was late, so the rest of the floor was deserted and dark. Quinn turned on the lights and set about making herself some tea, trying to enjoy the soft sounds of water boiling in the kettle and the hum of sleeping electronics. She grabbed a slightly stale muffin from a basket on the counter once her tea was done and headed back to her office, intending to sit on the couch next to the window and take the break she'd promised Clint.

But she couldn't sit still, not with her brain still going a mile a minute. Leaving her snack on the coffee table, she got to her feet and stretched upwards, vertebrae popping with a satisfying release of tension. She doubled over, letting her arms hang heavily, fingers brushing the ground until she pushed and put her palms flat. Her bad leg was tight—not unusual in the colder weather—so she lifted it onto the back of the couch to stretch it out more.

Feeling a bit looser but no less restless, Quinn started pacing around the office, mentally going over the lists of what had been done and what could be done for Dr. Selvig. She'd already checked in on everyone else associated with Thor; even though Dr. Foster had rejected SHIELD's protection, Quinn had kept a discreet eye on her from a distance, just in case. Dr. Foster and her assistant, Darcy, were still in London, as far as Quinn could tell without a more direct link to them. Selvig had been in London too, before his jaunt to Stonehenge.

Quinn knew she should check in with Dr. Foster directly, but that was not a phone call she was looking forward to making. Jane Foster did not like SHIELD and was not shy about saying so. The one and only time Quinn had spoken to Dr. Foster had been when Jane had withdrawn from SHIELD protection. In the process, she had also managed to accuse Quinn of keeping a way to contact Thor from her, and call Quinn a government lapdog.

Jane had every right to be angry at and mistrustful of SHIELD, but it didn't make talking to her any easier.

Quinn also wanted to call Steve. Even when she couldn't give him all the details, Steve had a knack for helping her talk through things, and for kicking her ass into gear when she was dragging her feet on something work related. He'd done it a few times since September, in the minutes they managed to steal to have a conversation over the phone. But he was on another mission with Strike Team Delta, and Quinn had no idea when he'd be back. He always called her when he could.

It wasn't enough.

But that was a problem for another time.

Quinn also thought about calling Coulson, but she knew what he'd say. He'd tell her that this was her job now, that she was the one who had to make the decisions. He'd tell her he believed in her and that he knew she'd do the right thing. And then he'd make some joke and make her laugh. There was also a part of her that still had trouble believing he was back, and thought that if she called, the number would be out of service.

And she couldn't handle if that was the case.

Director Fury had told her Coulson and his team were keeping busy and he promised that he'd let her know if something happened to Coulson. Quinn knew he'd tell her, but he'd do so only when he decided she should know.

Quinn huffed as her chest constricted around a spike of anxiety. She hadn't felt truly calm since the night after seeing Coulson again. Mandarin bombings, anomolous occurences, mentor coming back from the dead, an influx of people with weird abilities…

As Quinn started another circuit of her office, she inhaled deeply, until she could feel her ribs expanding, and then exhaled slowly. She'd just have to start making phone calls and checking hospital records and throwing her SHIELD weight around if she had to in order to find out where Selvig was. At least she could do something about this situation. The rest could wait. It would have to wait.

Wrapped up in her thoughts as she was, it wasn't until she was standing in front of the massive window overlooking the city that Quinn noticed the clouds. The night had been totally clear the last time she'd looked out the window, but thick clouds were gathering fast, lightning flashing between them. It was localized—Quinn could still see stars on either side of the storm.

She narrowed her eyes—that wasn't a normal storm.

As she watched, coloured flashes joined the lightning. The clouds swirled faster and the sky flashed white. The building started shaking, a few things rattling off Quinn's desk. When her teacup hit the floor and shattered, it snapped Quinn out of her stunned gazing, and she started running for the elevator, as fast she could with her leg protesting the way it was. She'd only seen clouds like that once in person, early in the morning and through a cloud of grief, but she'd watched the footage from New Mexico a hundred times—she knew what those clouds meant.

It was the Bifrost.

An Asgardian was coming.

And unless it was someone else, a stranger, that meant Thor—Loki was in prison on Asgard, so, thankfully, it couldn't be him. But why would Thor be coming to Avengers Tower? Was there some Avengers-level threat headed to Earth?

Thankfully, with the building almost empty, the elevator came quickly. Quinn pressed the button for the observation deck level, pretty sure Thor would land there rather than the smaller target of the roof. The building continued to shake around the elevator, nothing drastic, but enough that Quinn noticed it.

"JARVIS—"

"The storm is escalating, Agent Scott, and it is quite localized."

"Does the data coincide with that collected in Puente Antiguo? And over Central Park last May?" Quinn was pretty sure the answer was yes, but aliens had come to New York last year through some sort of portal, so better safe than sorry.

"Yes. All data points to this being the Bifrost. I believe we have a visitor inbound."

The building gave a harder shake; Thor was probably about to touch down. "Is Stark in the building?"

"Mr. Stark is presently in Malibu and not due to return for at least the rest of the year, Agent Scott. Would you like me to let him know we're being visited by Asgardians?"

"Probably just one Asgardian, and no thank you, JARVIS. I'll let him know if there's anything important to share. If Thor's brought news of a threat, we'll have to call in the Avengers, and then contact SHIELD, governments…"

"I will prepare the protocols in the event we need to enact them."

"Thank you, JARVIS. I'll let you know if we need to go ahead with the protocols. Otherwise, if you don't hear from me, assume there's no emergency."

"Very good, Agent Scott."

The elevator opened and Quinn moved quickly but cautiously towards the doors that lead out to the observation deck and landing pad. As she reached to open the door, the sky flashed blindingly white and rain started drumming against the glass. Thunder rumbled and Quinn knew the wind would be gusting at extreme temperatures, but she couldn't help but smile a little as a pillar of rainbow light slammed into the landing pad, burning Asgardian sigils into the tarmac and leaving one blond and stormy-looking Asgardian behind.

Quinn opened the doors and made her careful way across the deck to where Thor was standing. He calmed the storm directly above them, leaving it raging all around; it was surreal and Quinn slowed enough to observe the phenomenon.

"I didn't expect to see you again anytime soon," Quinn said with a smile once she was close enough.

But Thor didn't smile back. His blue eyes were dark, his brow furrowed.

He was furious.

Fearing the worst, Quinn stepped a little closer. "Thor, what—"

"You were supposed to be watching Jane, were you not?"

This was about Jane? "I was, but—"

"She vanished earlier today. Heimdall could not see her," Thor said, his voice turning rougher and deeper than normal. "So, where the hell were you?"


	2. Chapter 2

_November 12th, 2013_   
_New York City, New York—Avengers Tower, observation deck_

It took Quinn all of a second to realize that Thor was actually angry with her and not just screaming his frustration into the void. He’d come here, specifically. His voice was gruffer than usual, and there was a fire in his eyes that was dangerous and bright. Lightning flashed again and his eyes looked almost black. Against the backdrop of the nearly horizontal rain, he cut a frightening figure. Quinn had never been afraid of any of the Avengers—except perhaps the Hulk—but in that moment, she felt a faint tingle of fear in her gut.

Setting her jaw against that fear, Quinn took another step towards the big Asgardian, one hand out in front of her like she was trying to soothe a scared animal. “I was here, doing my job,” she said, trying to keep her voice level. “I was in charge of her safety, and I kept a close eye on her until—”

“Until what? You deemed her no longer worthy of SHIELD’s protection? Of _your_ protection?” 

Quinn took another step forward. She was starting to get angry now; her response to getting yelled at had always been either to get angry or to cry, and she didn’t really feel like crying right then. Thor was being unreasonable. “Until she _rejected_ SHIELD’s protection, Thor. She doesn’t trust SHIELD and she didn’t want us around. I wasn’t about to force her to endure SHIELD’s presence, so I withdrew.” Since she was standing close enough to Thor to reach him, she jabbed two fingers into the meat of his arm. “And I still keep an eye on her from a distance, but I can’t watch her twenty-four-seven, so don’t yell at me for something that’s not my fault!” 

“She vanished from Heimdall’s sight, Agent Scott! Do you not understand what that means?”

“Yes, I understand what that means!” she yelled before she’d really thought about her response. She knew Heimdall was considered all-seeing and all-hearing, at least according to the myths, but she didn’t really know what that meant in reality. “What are the limits of Heimdall’s sight?”

Thor seemed caught off-guard by the question, and some of the anger evaporated from him, his shoulders dropping and his brow unfurrowing a bit. “I’ve never asked him for specifics. As far as I am aware, he can see whatever he chooses, anywhere in the Nine Realms.”

“And he couldn’t see Jane?”

“No. She was completely hidden to him. And now something is using her body as a host. Something I have never seen before and something we cannot identify and I don’t know what I can do for her—”

“What, and you think I could have stopped this from happening?”

“Perhaps you could have!”

Quinn clenched her teeth against the words she wanted to scream, more annoyed than angry now. She knew Thor was scared and frustrated and was taking it out on her, but she really had done her best with Jane. But Jane had been difficult from the moment she’d met SHIELD—not that Coulson and the team had given her the best first impression—and she’d fought their surveillance for months. It hadn’t been a surprise when she’d politely told them to get lost. No one knew Quinn was still keeping an eye on the astrophysicist, since that was a responsibility Quinn kept for herself, but, on top of it being her job to keep the civilians connected to the Avengers safe, Quinn felt she owed it to Thor, who’d saved her from getting obliterated by the Hulk the year before. Thor loved Jane, and Quinn would do what little she could to keep her safe. She really was sorry she’d missed her disappearance, but Thor’s reaction was out of line.

“Thor, if this is something no Asgardian has any experience with, what do you think I—a regular human—could have done?” she asked, her words coming out more snappish than she’d intended. “And why did you come here? Just to yell at me? The last time I checked in on Jane, she was in London, failing to keep up on her research, struggling to find a direction, and ignoring everyone offering her help! Did you know she turned down Dr. Selvig’s invitation to help him solely because he’s been working with SHIELD?” 

“I—”

“It’s not my fault she wandered into whatever that place was.”

“Agent—”

“Shouldn’t you be with Jane now?”

Thor blinked, the anger in Quinn’s voice startling him. She saw his eyes darken again and he shifted his weight like he wanted to move closer to Quinn, invade her personal space, but he thought better of it and settled back into his former position. Some tension had worked back into his shoulders. She knew she was imagining it, but she could have sworn she saw wisps of steam coming off Thor’s skin where icy rain landed and immediately evaporated; at some point rain had started to lash past Thor’s barrier, probably because he was too worked up to focus. 

Quinn also knew she was pushing his buttons intentionally now, and mentally reined herself in.

“You are right, Agent Scott. I should not have come here,” he said, the words coming out clipped. “I apologize.”

“Thor—” Quinn cleared her throat and tried again, hoping she didn’t sound quite so angry. “Thor, just, slow down for a second.”

He stopped mid-turn and looked back at her. “I don’t have time to slow down!” 

Quinn gave him a pleading look, hoping he realized she was trying to help him. She was afraid she was still too angry for the look to be effective though. “Where is Jane now?”

“Asgard, being examined by our brightest minds.”

“So she’s safe?”

“For the moment,” Thor grudgingly admitted. He shifted his weight from foot to foot, eager to call the Bifrost down and return home. 

Quinn couldn’t blame him, but she wanted some more information, wanted him to calm down a bit so he didn’t do something else rash. “Then there’s no harm in taking a minute. Take a breath, Thor. Tell me what happened and I’ll see if there’s anything I can do to help, however unlikely it might be. It might just help to talk it out.” Quinn paused, debating the words she wanted to say. They could help, or they could just make him mad again. “I am sorry this has happened. I wish I could have stopped it.” 

Thor’s eyes flashed, but he stuffed his first response down and sighed. “Heimdall has been keeping an eye on her for me, since it is so difficult for me to traverse between Asgard and Midgard. Earlier today, she completely vanished from his sight. He couldn’t find her for hours, and then when I was finally able to gather enough energy to get to Midgard and check on her, I discovered something was using her as a host.” Quinn waited patiently as Thor gathered his thoughts enough to continue. He seemed a little calmer than he had been, though it was clear he was still dealing with a lot of turbulent emotions. “She said she was in an abandoned factory, and then she was in another place, a strange place that wasn’t like anywhere on Earth. There was a massive stone floating above another stone, and in between, there was a substance that she absorbed when she got too close. She said it was reddish and seemed attracted to her, as if it had a mind of its own.” 

Quinn felt a shiver run down her spine at the prospect of something inanimate, something likely powered by magic, moving of its own volition, of invading her body; she’d watched too many sci-fi movies for this. “Do you have any idea what it is?” 

“I do not, but I know it’s not good.”

_That_ was obvious. There seemed to be so much more weird stuff happening than Quinn was used to; the feeling among the Avengers and SHIELD and pretty much everyone Quinn interacted with was right: the Battle of New York had changed things and possibly not for the better. Probably not for the better. In her more existential moments, Quinn wished the battle had never happened, or at least that it hadn’t been against aliens so the great wide universe could have stayed in the realm of speculation. She missed not knowing that aliens were, in fact, real. But if it hadn’t happened, where would she and Steve be? And though Coulson had come back from the dead—she still couldn’t think too much about that—if the battle had never happened, he would never have had to go through the trauma in the first place. Who knew how it had changed him, how it would affect him long-term. 

But it had happened. 

And now they had to deal with everything weird that was piling up.

She sighed and held Thor’s gaze for a few heartbeats, hoping she looked sympathetic and concerned rather than tangled up in her own thoughts. “How is Jane doing now?” she asked.

“I’m not sure. There are moments where she seems fine—excited to see Asgard, somewhere most Midgardians do not get to go, curious about what’s happening, happy to see me again. But there are also moments where all I see in her eyes is uncertainty, frustration, and fear, none of which I know how to soothe.” Thor exhaled a long breath and when he looked at Quinn again, his eyes were sad. “I hope our physicians can extract whatever it is inside her, or at the very least tell us what to do next to help her.”

“I hope so too. I don’t know what I can do to help, but point me in a direction and—”

“There’s nothing you can do, Agent Scott.” He sounded so resigned. Frustrated.

“I wish there was.” Quinn’s heart squeezed in her chest, her mind instantly running to horrible situations where she was in Thor’s situation, panicking over an injured or in-danger Steve without any idea of how to help or proceed. As empathetic and sympathetic as she was, Quinn couldn’t imagine how Thor was feeling, and it made her uncomfortable being unable to help. Her entire job centred around helping the Avengers however she could, however they needed her to. “If you have to bring her back here, I can make sure she gets the best care possible—”

“Quinn.”

The use of her given name, and the terse tone shut her up. She wasn’t sure Thor had ever called her anything except Agent Scott. Keeping silent, Quinn looked up at Thor, too used to being the shortest in the room for the eleven inches between them to intimidate her. He was getting angry again, probably because there was nothing he could do, and because Quinn had offered no answers. And yelling at her hadn’t made him feel any better.

“I apologize for yelling,” he said, voice tight again. “It was a waste of time to come here and to expect you could do anything to protect or help Jane.”

Quinn’s eyes narrowed as anger flared again. Her ears grew hot. Thor hadn’t calmed down as much as she’d thought, obviously. “Excuse me—!”

“We’re done, Agent Scott.”

“Come back here!”

Evidently Thor was done conversing though. He turned on his heel and moved towards the end of the observation deck, putting as much space between him and Quinn as possible. His eyes turned skyward and Quinn, fuming and angry, made her decision a split second before the shimmering pillar of colour and light slammed into the ground. Without a second thought, she threw herself into the Bifrost, grabbing whatever she could of Thor and holding on for dear life. 

It was, perhaps, the dumbest thing she’d ever done.

She thought she heard Thor yelling her name, thought he reached down to grab her with one hand, but she couldn’t be sure as her ears were filled with the roar of air and space rushing past as they hurtled through blackness, past the familiar stars. Her entire body was alight with adrenaline. All she could feel was excitement. Quinn screamed as she watched Earth shrink and space grow—a scream that turned to a yelp of delight as they passed through a brief burst of silence, crossing the barrier between Midgard and Asgard. Then the stars were different, the colours were different, the very air, even inside the Bifrost, was different. 

She was in another realm.

The light changed suddenly and Quinn hit something solid, the contact pushing the air from her lungs as the floor rushed towards her. Her awkward hold on Thor had prevented her from landing on her feet, so she rolled a couple times and came to a stop on her back, staring up at a dark gold ceiling, gears turning slowly as the roar of the Bifrost faded. She felt no pain, just exhilaration and the buzz of lingering adrenaline; well, her bad leg hurt a little more than usual, but she didn’t mind so much. There was too many other things to focus on.

She was on Asgard, legendary home of Norse gods and heroes. 

_Asgard._

She started laughing as her breath returned. The part of her that had voraciously read Norse myths when she was younger was jumping for joy, urging her to get to her feet and explore and see and learn all she could—she’d never have another chance; she had to make the most of this. 

“I did not intend to bring her along.”

Quinn sat up and found Thor talking to a big dark-skinned man in gold armour looking at her. Rubbing her scarred thigh, she climbed awkwardly to her feet and smiled her biggest smile at the pair of them, her giddiness only growing. “Of course you didn’t, but we weren’t finished our discussion.” 

The other Asgardian, presumably Heimdall, gave Quinn a tight-lipped smile, his sparkling eyes betraying his greater amusement; his eyes, like molten gold, were captivating. “Welcome to Asgard, Agent Quinn Scott.” 

Her cheeks flushed a little. “Thank you… uhm, Heimdall?” He nodded and Quinn smiled again. “I’m sure it’ll be a pleasant visit,” she added with a pointed look at Thor, who was watching her with a mix of exasperation and anger written all over her face.

“You should return home, Agent Scott. You shouldn’t be here.” 

“Well, if Jane is here, then I should probably check on her right? Since it is my job,” she said, sneering out the last word.

Quinn turned her back on the Asgardians—even though she would have loved to stay and chat with Heimdall—and marched as purposefully as she could out of the spherical room. Her bad leg started to ache more as the adrenaline fled her body, but she wouldn’t let her pain show. The haughty countenance she was attempting to maintain was thwarted as she left the Bifrost chamber, as she couldn’t help but marvel at the rainbow bridge she was walking on and the majesty, the splendor or Asgard arrayed before her.

_Fury’s gonna have my head when I get back_ , she mused as she pulled her mercifully undamaged phone from her pocket and snapped a couple pictures, _but I can’t wait to tell Steve about this._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long! 2020's a bitch.


	3. Chapter 3

_November 12th, 2013  
_ _Asgard—The Rainbow Bridge_

Thor was a dark cloud, but Quinn was so bowled over by the beauty of the realm around her that she barely even noticed the god of thunder sulking along behind her. She was moving as quickly as she could along the bridge, eager to get across the water and into the city proper where she could see actual Asgardians in their home, see their architecture and clothing up close, be in the legendary place she'd read about a thousand times, and—

She was unreasonably excited, and she had entirely forgotten about Jane Foster's predicament.

At least for the moment.

As her boots hit the stones at the far end of the bridge, Thor grabbed her arm and steered her along a path she would never have been able to discern—it dawned on her then that walking ahead of one who lived here had been a stupid decision, curiosity, excitement, and annoyance be damned. She let him direct her without complaint for a moment, but when his grip tightened—surely out of fear and frustration and not a desire to hurt her—she yanked her arm away and fell in step behind Thor. As much as she wanted to explore and see everything, Quinn was not keen on getting lost, especially not somewhere there could be something dangerous to her merely mortal self. Her head remained on a swivel though, her tawny eyes devouring everything she could see. Her hands itched to touch everything, explore the textures of another world; she settled for letting her fingers trail along the walls they passed under pretense of support for her leg.

"Stay close," Thor said when he noticed she wasn't behind him anymore, but off to one side. His voice was still gruff. "You shouldn't be here at all. It won't do to have you ending up somewhere dangerous or getting lost or injured."

"Thor—" Quinn huffed when the Asgardian started walking faster, and pushed herself to catch up; her bad leg began to burn with the exertion, but it wasn't too bad. Yet. It wouldn't be bad until her leg started to shake, and the Stark brace was pretty good at preventing that. She was determined not to let her weakness show, not until her and Thor were back on even footing. Or at least until he wasn't taking his anger out on her. "Thor, I didn't exactly _intend_ to come here. I was angry with you for coming to Earth to yell at me—"

"You _clearly_ were not thinking!"

"Neither were you!"

Thor stopped walking, his cape wrapping dramatically around him with the abruptness of the motion. Quinn kept walking, moving to stand in front of Thor and glare up at him, too used to being the shortest in the room to feel cowed by his vastly superior height and his muscles. His jaw was clenched, the muscles beneath his ears bulging as he held back whatever it was he wanted to say. Or yell. Quinn felt her heart pounding in her chest from both the resurging anger at the Asgardian's behaviour and with the exertion of trying to keep up to his much longer strides. Her leg burned beneath her brace, the muscle already starting to twitch; she'd been in an office too long and was out of shape. Not even the brace was going to keep up.

"I know you're scared and angry and that's fine," Quinn said, attempting to keep her voice level but still firm. "But that doesn't give you the right to come and yell at me or behave like this was done on purpose to you! For fuck's sake, Thor, _Jane_ is the one in danger and you've brought her to this strange place—beautiful, yes, but strange—and then you left her here. Alone."

"She's not—"

"Shut it, thunder boy, I'm not done." Quinn jabbed her finger against Thor's chest and narrowed her eyes. "You fucked up in not going to see her after the battle of New York, and in leaving her here alone now, when she's scared and going through something no one understands. And you probably fucked up in not getting a message to her somehow since Puente Antiguo—I am _sure_ there's a way you and whatever magic and science is up here could have managed that. I get it. I can empathize with how you're feeling, but stop taking your shit out on me." She paused for a heartbeat, letting her own anger dissipate and giving Thor a chance to cool down a few degrees too. She didn't take her eyes off him. "Now, I apologize for my stupid decision and ending up here. I'll stay out of the way and do what you say so I don't get hurt or offend anyone or anything."

"Good," Thor snapped. A moment later, he sighed, his massive shoulders dropping a bit. "And I apologize for coming to yell at you, Agent Scott." He started walking again, slower than before, and Quinn fell in beside him. "When I was in New York last year, Agent Coulson told me you would be keeping an eye on Jane. I didn't think she would… refuse such protection, so when she vanished and there was no response from SHIELD—"

"You don't have to explain, Thor. I would have let you know about Jane withdrawing from official SHIELD protection if I'd known how to get ahold of you."

"Yet another area in which I've failed," Thor said after making a noise of displeasure.

"Well, I suppose I should take solace in the fact that not even the gods are perfect…"

Thor's snort in response wasn't quite a laugh, but it was close enough. "I have never had to worry about something like this before."

"You've never been in love with a mortal before."

"That is true."

Silence reigned for a moment or two as they left the Asgardian streets and approached the palace. They hadn't seen many people, but those they had seen were dressed in clothes and armour that Quinn could have spent hours studying. Everything was so colourful and intricate, and being at least six inches shorter than anyone she's seen and dressed in her jeans, brace, and sweater, she felt drab. She didn't normally care.

 _I might be experiencing some sensory overload,_ she told herself. She couldn't stop a small smile from pulling at her lips. _And maybe a bit of emotional whiplash…_

"You know," Quinn said, once she could no longer bear the quiet, "as we were walking across the bridge, I realized the palace kind of looked like a pipe organ."

"What is a pipe organ?" Thor asked, an expression of innocent curiosity erasing what remained of the anger.

"A musical instrument. Like a piano?" She paused, waited for Thor to nod that he knew what that was, and then continued. "It's played like piano, with keys, but instead of hammers hitting strings, the sound comes out of pipes, creating a massive, haunting sound. They're usually in churches." She waved a hand, as if batting away her words, pretty sure her description wasn't helping. "If there's time next time you're on Earth, I'll show you a picture of one," she said with a small smile. "Or maybe take you to see one."

Thor nodded and returned her smile, before he led her into the palace proper.

They entered a huge golden room with pillars, painted ceilings dozens of feet above, and a large throne at one end. Quinn barely got a chance to steal a look before they were in a smaller, but still grand, corridor—hallway didn't feel like the right term—and Thor's pace increased again. Quinn's bad leg burned, but she kept quiet when she noticed the determined set to Thor's jaw. They must have been getting close to wherever Jane was.

Quinn hoped vaguely that she'd have time and be allowed to explore a bit. She was dying to get a better look at _everything_.

He led her to a small and out-of-the-way room that was rather stuffed with people. The first thing Quinn saw was Jane Foster lying on a table surrounded by a lot of blue light and lying beneath a 3D image of herself made of golden-orange particles. The second thing she saw was the older Asgardian manipulating the image, her lined face stuck somewhere between concern and confusion. The rest of the space was filled by three other women who were watching the proceedings closely, taking notes, and, it seemed, waiting to be needed.

Jane raised her head as Thor and Quinn entered the room, but otherwise remained still. There was a smile on her face until she noticed Quinn's smaller form standing half in Thor's shadow. "Agent Scott?"

"Hello, Dr. Foster," Quinn replied, as if they weren't in another realm, surrounded by what Quinn could only, with her limited understanding, call magic. As if this was a chance meeting at a New York City coffee shop.

"What are you doing here?"

Quinn looked sideways at Thor, one eyebrow raised in addition to one corner of her mouth. "My job, apparently."

She barely caught Thor's eye roll before he turned his head.

"I refused SHIELD protection—" Jane stopped talking, her attention captured by the sudden appearance of a strange, writhing mass in the 3D image floating above her. "Wait, what's that?"

"Be still," the stern-looking woman who was operating the device said. Her voice was gentle but firm, and all it took was a look to make Jane settle back on the table.

Jane's face was nothing but curious, but Thor's expression was dark with concern again. His jaw and shoulders were tense. Quinn hesitated a moment, but then reached out and placed a hand on Thor's arm, hoping he was okay with the offered comfort. His eyes darted to her briefly, but then he was looking at Jane and the strange mass currently living inside her. He didn't shake off Quinn's hand though.

"That is not of Earth," he said. His attention then zeroed in on the Asgardian seemingly in charge of the room; if they'd been on Earth, Quinn would have called her a doctor, but for once, Quinn was keeping her mouth shut, worried about overstepping. She was so out of her depth. "What is it?"

"We do not know," another woman—someone Quinn would have called a nurse—said. She was standing on the other side of Thor, and keeping her voice low, like she didn't want Jane to hear. Even Quinn could barely hear her, and she was only a few feet away. "But she will not survive long with this amount of energy inside her." The nurse and Thor shared a worried look.

Quinn looked at Jane, who was asking the doctor about the device being used on her. She didn't know Jane well—she barely knew her at all, actually—but Quinn thought she could see some worry behind the smile and the questions. The urge to say something was there, but Quinn didn't know what she would say, what comfort she could offer. She and Jane were mortals in a land of immortals, they weren't friends or even friendly. Even if she could think of something to say, Quinn didn't think her sympathy or empathy or comfort or whatever she could muster would go over well.

Heavy footsteps in the hall startled Quinn out of her musings.

She looked at Thor, and then followed his gaze to the door. A heartbeat passed, the footsteps drew closer, and then Quinn found herself looking at an old man with a regal air who could have only been Odin, Thor's father and the king of Asgard.

She met his one-eyed gaze for less than a second before she stepped away and did her best to disappear into the shadows. Quinn wasn't easily intimidated, but Odin… Odin was intimidating, because Quinn didn't know him, didn't know what he would do about finding two mortals in his domain, didn't know—

Quinn pressed herself against the wall and kept her eyes on the strange writing mass still floating above Jane. It was so unnatural looking and it moved like nothing she'd ever seen before, and it didn't seem to be confined to Jane's veins or arteries or nerves or anything—it seemed to go wherever it wanted inside Jane. It actually frightened Quinn a little now that she was actually paying attention.

"She—neither of them belong here anymore than a goat belongs at the banquet table," Odin said, raising his voice.

Quinn turned at the same moment Jane sat up.

"Did he just—?" Jane asked, looking for Odin to Thor to Quinn to Thor again.

"I am Odin, King of Asgard and Protector of the Nine Realms."

"And I'm—"

"I know very well who you are, Jane Foster, and you, Quinn Scott," he added with a quick look in Quinn's direction.

"Father, there is something in Jane, something I have not seen before," Thor interjected.

"Earth has its healers—they call them doctors—let them deal with it. Guards—" he turned to the armoured guards he'd brought with him and gestured for them to enter the room, pointing out Jane and Quinn as the targets "—take them back to Midgard."

On one hand, Quinn was ready to walk with the guards back to the Bifrost and go home, but on the other hand, she was curious about the scary thing taking over Jane's body and she wanted to see this through.

On the other, other hand, what happened next definitely made her want to stay with Jane while whatever it was was inside her.

As the guards approached Jane, Thor said, "Don't touch her!" at the same minute a force radiated out from Jane, sending her back onto the table, and pushing the guards back with a concussive blast. Even Quinn, nearly as far from Jane as possible in that room, felt the blast against her chest.

"What the fuck was that?" she gasped once it was over.

"The infection…" the doctor said. "It's defending her."

"No." Thor's voice was firm. Angry. "It's defending itself."

A few heartbeats' worth of silence passed, everyone holding their breath as they waited to see what would happen. When Odin sighed, it was filled with resignation. Annoyance.

"Come with me," he said to Thor and Jane. "You—" Odin's one eye bored into Quinn "—will not go anywhere unaccompanied." He gestured to one guard. "Stay with her. She will be going back to Midgard soon."

Quinn watched Odin, Thor, and Jane leave the room, the other guard on their heels. As the Asgardian nurses and doctor left, Quinn turned to her guard. "Is there anywhere I could get some food?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I need approximately 5 more hours in the day to get shit done. I want to work on this fanfiction more, because I love it, but there is so much else I have to do. But we'll get there, slowly but surely.


End file.
